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Labor Unveils Major Migration Overhaul Targeting Students, Backpackers and Overstayers
24 September 2026 10 min read
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced a broad package of migration changes on 17 September 2026 in an address to the National Press Club in Canberra. The measures target three groups in particular: international students, working holiday makers, and people who remain in Australia after their visa has ended.[1][2]
Burke described the package as the next stage of the government's effort to restore integrity to the migration system and gain more control over its demand driven parts. Several measures still need regulations or legislation before they take effect, so the detail and timing of each will matter as much as the headline.[1]
Net overseas migration was 292,100 in the year to March. The government now treats its budget forecasts as targets: 245,000 for 2026-27 and 225,000 in each following year.[1][2] Burke also argued against deeper cuts, saying lower levels "will trash Australian services and trash the Australian economy."[1]
The largest single change affects backpackers on Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas. Staying beyond the first year will move to a capped ballot.[1][2]
| Stay | Last year | New cap | Regional work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second year | about 57,000 | 45,000 | 88 days |
| Third year | about 31,000 | 5,000 | six months |
The third year cap is the sharper cut, falling by more than 80 per cent. Completing the required regional work will no longer guarantee a further visa, because eligibility becomes a ticket into a ballot rather than an entitlement. Backpackers planning a second or third year should treat those plans as uncertain until the ballot rules are published. Our guide to the Subclass 462 Work and Holiday visa covers the existing eligibility and regional work rules.
Two changes target students. First, most new international students will no longer be able to bring partners or dependent children on their student visa, with exemptions for students from Pacific and ASEAN countries and for certain courses such as PhDs. We cover that change in detail in our report on the student family restrictions.[1]
Second, the government is targeting what it calls visa hopping. Students changing course will need to apply for a new visa, and graduates will only be able to move to a higher level of qualification. A bachelor's graduate could apply for a master's degree, for example, but not for another course at the same level or below.[1][2]
Visitor visas will carry a "no further stay" condition, aimed at people who arrive as tourists and then apply onshore for a different visa.[1][2] In practical terms, a no further stay condition prevents the holder from applying for most other visas while in Australia. Anyone who expects to need a different visa should plan to apply from outside Australia, or make sure the right visa is in place before travelling.
An estimated 80,000 non-citizens are in Australia without a valid visa. The government will reintroduce a pre-2015 approach under which overstayers either leave or face detention.[1][2] The package includes:
Burke framed the detention measure as a behavioural deterrent, saying that under the earlier approach people facing detention would, "within a few weeks," organise their own flight.[1]
Anyone whose visa has ended, or is close to ending, should get advice now rather than waiting. The options available to someone who is still lawful are considerably wider than those available once a visa has ceased.
The package also signals where the government wants skilled migration to go. Construction workers will receive points equivalent to university qualified applicants, and healthcare, education, law enforcement, defence, resources and agriculture are named as priority sectors.[2] That continues the direction set by Ministerial Direction 119, which already prioritises several of those occupations in processing.
Not everything announced can happen by regulation. The government wants Parliament to approve an expression of interest mechanism to control student arrivals, and changes aimed at weak protection visa claims, but reporting indicates it does not currently have a clear path to pass them.[1] Those measures should be treated as proposals until legislation passes.
The response split along predictable lines. The hospitality sector objected to the working holiday cuts, with Accommodation Australia's chief executive saying working holiday makers "are the wrong target" for reducing net overseas migration. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre called it "a dark day for multicultural Australia."[2]
This is the most significant set of temporary visa changes announced this year, and the common thread is control over the parts of the program that are driven by demand rather than set by government. Working holiday makers face the most immediate practical change, with the third year cap in particular close to removing that option for most people. The measures needing legislation are less certain. For a different vision of where migration should go, see our coverage of One Nation's proposed 750,000 cut.
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The measures described were announced but many are not yet in effect, and their final form may differ. For advice on your circumstances, contact our team.